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EXPERT COMMENTARY – Warning: Disability Insurance is Hitting the Wall
For years Social Security’s trustees (of which I am one) have warned that lawmakers must act to address the troubled finances of the program’s disability insurance (DI) trust fund. Congress has nearly run out of time to do so. Legislation will…
Is This Social Security Trustee Trying to Undermine Social Security?
In these parlous times when conservatives are sharpening their knives to slash Social Security benefits, the last thing nearly 60 million beneficiaries need is someone working to erode the program from the inside. But that appears to be the role of Charles…
A Capsizing Disability-Insurance Program
Trust-fund reserves will run out late next year. Obama’s solution is a bad idea, but reform is still needed. While Medicare and Social Security dominate discussion about entitlement reform, too little attention is paid to the dire financial straits of the…
Congress Spars Over Social Security, Disability Funds
Within 24 hours of the new Congress convening, Democrats and Republicans became embroiled in an entrenched battle. The subject? Social Security. The squabble began after House Republicans quietly tucked into a 36-page list of House rules a new rule that would restrict…
Disability is drain on Social Security
Disability is a waste of taxpayers’ money, Sen. Rand Paul said recently. I have seen hordes of patients come to my clinic trying to get disability or are on it. In my estimate, of the patients I see, only about…
Obama’s New Budget: Why Bother?
This Tuesday’s State of the Union Address will kick off a 13-day period that will lead to the release of the Obama 2016 budget on February 2. At least in deeds if not in actual words, this budget will be…
It’s Time to Focus on Shared Goals
In his 2010 State of the Union Address, President Obama said he’d “like to begin monthly meetings with both Democratic and Republican leadership.” Unfortunately, he did not follow through on that good intention. We appeal to him to do so…
Scared of outliving your savings?
NEW YORK — When faced with the prospect of outliving their money, most people might toss and turn at night or obsess about where to slash their budgets. Others have a more extreme reaction: wishing for early death. “I can…
Poll: Confidence in economy improved since last State of the Union
Economic confidence has improved significantly since just before President Obama’s 2014 State of the Union Address, according to a Gallup poll released Monday. Forty-one percent of people said they’re satisfied with the economy now, up 13 percentage points from last year.…
Wallace: A critical lens on Social Security
The nation’s changing demographics are making it more imperative that Americans make some “big decisions” about Social Security, conservative commentator Charles Krauthammmer told a Sarasota audience last week. Krauthammer, who has argued in the past for raising the retirement age,…